Generally the flaps of pants are closed by buttons, snaps, or the like. A belt is usually used to more selectively position the waist line of the pants to the actual girth of the wearer.
An adjustable buckle which closes a garment to a plurality of fitting positions so as to eliminate the need for a belt is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,534,087 and 4,566,158 to Wah Lau.
Other prior art buckles are described in the following patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 63,782 Caldwell 4/1867 82,142 McDonald 9/1868 181,188 Lascall 8/1867 390,848 Farrell 10/1888 824,745 Salisbury 7/1906 849,677 Grote 4/1907 878,996 Pasley 2/1907 1,134,016 Sanders 3/1930 1,820,918 MacKenzie 3/1930 2,290,573 Rasp 1/1942 2,455,236 Darvie 11/1948 2,475,226 Ellis 2/1945 3,063,118 Salter 11/1962 3,114,186 Olsen 12/1963 3,192,747 Stupell et al. 6/1962 4,429,439 Waugh 8/1984 ______________________________________